Published in Ccompact

Stephanie's is the middle image.

Alice Springs

"The Ghan", is the train that goes north from Adelaide to Darwin and back. The coaches are similar to those of the Indian Pacific but the length of the train is perhaps longer (800 meters). In the early days in Australia for those traveling to the Outback, they used camels for transporting their supplies as horses required water which is not readily available there. The camel drivers were either from Afghanistan or from Pakistan but to the Aussies they were all Afghans. As the train takes much the same route as the camel trains did, consequently the name: "The Ghan".

I was advised to not go to Darwin at this time of year as the weather conditions are not favourable on account of possible hurricanes (or typhoons, or what ever). Instead I opted for Alice Springs which is situated right at the center of Australia. The trip to Alice Springs had a duration of 24 hours and this time the train left and arrived on time.

For the first hour of so of the journey, the countryside was very lush and green but as we continued on, the countryside was anything but; as all one could see was the red earth of Australia which contains much iron oxide. The land was flat with the odd what I would call a mole hill. Looking out the window of the train the only vegetation was salt bush and died trees starved for moisture. There was the odd carcass of a dead animal, perhaps having died of thirst. Regarding animals, I did not see any wild ones at all, although out of Adelaide some passengers claimed to have seen "Emus". Further on, there were some cattle grazing where the ranchers had made dugouts to hold water when it rained. Other than that, there was not much to see.

We passed over the "Finke River " about 300 kilometres south of Alice Springs which is claimed to be the oldest river in the world (300 million years) but it was dry-as-a-bone at this time of the year. Likewise was the Todd River that flows (when there is water) through Alice Springs. In August the locals hold a regatta on the Todd River Bed as it is dry and race one another carrying bottomless boats. On arrival at Alice Springs when stepping off the train, the heat was overwhelming. I'm sure it was nearly 40°C. Anyway, we were driven away in an air conditioned bus to the Chifley Alice Springs Resort for the night. The first thing I did was to put on my bathing suit and go for a swim. I was told that the water for Alice Springs comes from aquifers and not pipelines from distant lakes as I had seen in Broken Hill. The electricity is generated by natural gas from local sources. (With all the sunshine here, one wonders why solar generation is not employed.)

My fellow passengers on my section of the The Ghan Train were mostly English Folks who were on an arranged tour. After the usual socializing in the lounge car with a retired Aussie and a Dane, I was seated for a late lunch with an English couple who live in London. They got into a hot discussion whether Britain should stay in the European Union or not. The man was all for quitting the EU but not so his wife. It was interesting to hear the arguments for and against. They agreed to cancel each other's vote when they go to the polls in June.

At the evening meal, I was seated with three other guys, two Aussies (one of them being the tour guide) and a Welshman. There was a discussion of New Zealand having just defeated the changing of their present flag to one having a fern leaf more or less on the left centre, black in colour on the top left fly and the Southern Cross on the right side as they have now. There was also a discussion on the topic of should Australia change their present flag. The Welshman (even though he was not an Aussie) was dead set against removing the present Union Jack from the Australian flag. So was the tour guide. The other Aussie was all for a distinctive flag. I sat back and listened while the three of them fought it out. I did put in an odd comment, saying that there were many in Canada against adopting a new flag but after it was done, people seemed to be pleased.

The next morning for breakfast my table partners were two old dolls who immigrated from Scotland to Australia.  The older of the two was good looking too.  We had a very friendly discussion of their present home in Australia and their former home of Scotland. The Scots never forget the land from which they have come. I think the main reason the Scots leave Scotland is because of the weather as that came up in our discussion often at breakfast.

Last but not least were with an English couple in the lounge car. The lady was born in Vancouver, lived for a short time in Victoria but moved with her family to England when she was two-years old. She still has relatives in Canada and has been back several times. In fact this couple have been everywhere, even on the railway from China to Tibet and to such locations as Antarctica.

As I said the first thing I did in Alice Springs was go for a swim. The second was to have a good meal. The resort at the Chifley has an excellent chef. In fact, I am impressed with much what I have seen in Alice Springs. The town (23,000 population) is not what was shown in the movie "Crocodile Dundee". It's a very modern town with paved streets, sidewalks and curbs. The business section is very modern and is laid out in the usual square grid fashion while the residential is laid out in crescents.

Tuesday morning we all had to get up early to catch our tour bus to Uluru (Ayers Rock). Wonders of wonders, it was raining that morning which delighted the locals! In fact, our bus driver (who made a running commentary as we traveled) said that Alice Springs had a good rain as recently as two weeks ago. The drive took six hours with stops first at a camel station where for $6 one could sit on a camel and then be lead around a circular corral. No thanks! The other was a cattle station where I bought a sandwich and an Aussie Flynet. What is an Aussie Flynet you ask? An Aussie Flynet is a net you wear over your head (best if you wear a baseball cap) so that you don't have to make the "Outback Salute".  In some areas one is always swishing flies away from one's face.

This particular camel station is one dedicated to tourists but there are others that raise camels for export to: believe it or not; Saudi Arabia, but others are raised for meat processing. The bus driver was full of facts and figures; he told us that when the railway was completed to Alice Springs in 1929 and beyond that there was no more use for the camels. The Afghan drivers were told to destroy their beasts but many did not and turned them loose. Presently there are over 600,000 wild camels roaming around the outback.

The cattle stations are rather interesting. Apparently, the vegetation in the area around Alice Springs is not amenable for raising sheep but it is for raising cattle.  In order for a cattle station to be economically viable, the rancher must run at least 4,000 head of cattle. Because of the scarcity of grazing feed, it requires one square kilometre per animal. In other words, the cattle station must be 4,000 square kilometres.  We passed a number of cattle stations on our way to Ayers Rock. Our bus driver told us that the larger cattle stations are north of Alice Springs.

Ayers Rock is a very modern tourist village (pop 1,000 permanent residents and 3,000 to 4,000 tourists) built in the late 1980's. It is constructed around a distorted oval, the center portion of the oval is all park dedicated to the natural vegetation and is criss-crossed by many walking paths. The hotels (my hotel: Desert Gardens), commercial centre and campground are built along the outside of the oval. A free shuttle bus runs continuously around the oval from 10:30am to 12:30am daily. The little tour takes about 20 minutes. I was impressed with this little village.

We had to again rise early for a 5:30am departure to Uluru to witness the sun rise. I was not too impressed with the sunrise at Uluru, as we do have a more spectacular sunrise over Saltspring Island back home. What did fascinate me was to see the moon right over my head, whoa! We walked right up to the Rock (as the locals call it) touching it and listening to the folk lore stories of the Aboriginals.

The afternoon was spent touring a camel farm where there must have been over a 100 camels. They seemed to be a very lethargic beast as they (like cows) lie down (kneel) and chew their cud all day. I didn't ride a camel.

Tonight, me and my fellow tourists travel back to Uluru and dine along with what they call "Sounds of Silence" and watch the stars. I'll tell you all about it after I arrive in Perth. But first I must catch and early morning flight to Alice Springs and then to Adelaide before catching the Indian Pacific to Perth. (Three days on the train.)

Bon Jour

Easter 2016

Next stop Adelaide

On my fourth day in Australia, I boarded the "Indian Pacific Train" for Adelaide. (The train's name originates from the fact that it travels from Sydney on the Pacific Ocean to Perth on the Indian Ocean and vice-versa.) The train is much like VIA's "Canadian" consisting of 30 stainless steel coaches of which there were 6 dining cars, 6 lounge cars, 12 roomette coaches and half a dozen of other coaches.  The first leg of the trip was between Sydney and Adelaide where the rail line makes somewhat of an arc, that is; leaving Sydney, it travels north through the Blue Mountains, then northwest to the town of Broken Hill and finally in a southwest direction to Adelaide.
 

We were supposed to leave at 3 pm but didn't get underway until 6 pm. This gave me a chance to catch an hour or so sleep before we got going. However, the voices from the Lounge Car next to my coach became louder and louder. Even though we still hadn't left the station, the Lounge Car was in full swing and my fellow passengers were enjoying the beer, wine and spirits which are all-inclusive in the fare. As all the passengers were retirees, no one over indulged and nobody got out of hand.

I was hoping to see the Blue Mountains, but by the time we reached them, it was dark as we had left at a late hour. This also interfered with the guided tour at Broken Hill as it was cancelled to make up time on the schedule.

After a great meal that evening and a bit of socializing in the lounge car, I went to bed and had a very restful sleep. Some of the passengers complained about the swaying of the train caused by uneven track...but not me, I slept soundly. The track and roadbed for the Indian Pacific is not as good as the railways in France and for that matter the Canadian railways' roadbeds are a bit better but not quite as good as those found in France. The Indian Pacific roadbed looks to employ good ballast and uses concrete ties but maybe the ties need more tamping, better alignment and perhaps heavier rails.

As customary, I arose early and enjoyed a coffee in the Lounge car while waiting for breakfast. We were traveling on the plain between the Blue Mountains and Broken Hill. If one thinks the Canadian Prairies are flat you should see this one in Australia. On this flat land, I saw many dozens of kangaroos. One such animal tried racing our train. (The train won.) Also, there were many wild goats. I thought at first they were sheep but was told later they were goats. Later on there were some sheep. I enquired as to where do the animals find the water to sustain themselves and was told the animals seem to find a "billabong" somehow. I couldn't see billabong from the train but of course the animals seem to find them as there a great numbers of wild animals.

As we approached Broken Hill the terrain became quite hilly. Broken Hill is a gold mining town and because I being an old mining engineer, I was curious to have a look around but no such luck as we were only aloud to get off the train long enough to walk up and down the platform as the train crews wanted to make up for the time lost from Sydney.

On leaving Broken Hill the terrain again became flat and very dry but as we came closer to the coast (Adelaide) one noticed that things became greener with more trees and grass and finally grape vineyards. What I have seen so far is that the coast areas are very lush for about 100 kilo-meters inland and then slowly the landscape becomes very dry with only salt bushes (like our sedge brush)  and eucalyptus  trees.

Arriving in Adelaide late, I skipped dinner as we were giving a large grommet dinner at lunchtime. Again rising early, I enjoyed a breakfast of bacon and eggs and terrible coffee. I should mention my first full day here was Good Friday and would you believe that everything is closed and there were very few people around. The concierge tried to get me on a wine tour but there were none that day. Anyway my city exploring started by walking with city map. One thing I noticed here and also in Sydney was they are not as concerned about people smoking on the street or in the parks as they are in Victoria. At home there no smoking on the street or in the parks. There are designated smoking areas and they are few and far in between. One sees cigarette butts on the sidewalks and around the park benches here in Adelaide. (What a shame!)

On thing that first confused me was the naming of streets. It seems that King William Street which runs North and South is the main diving point. All streets running east and west, change names at King William Street. For instance, Grote Street to the west of King William becomes Wakefield to the East of King William. Likewise Franklin becomes Flinders; Weymouth becomes Pirie and so on. Once I figured that out I was OK.

In the morning I went out walking with nowhere in particular just to get the feel of the town but in the afternoon, I really went out on my exploration trip of the city. Walking north along King William Street, one comes to the State Parliament Building on North TCE (no change of name for this street...see there is an exception to the rule). The State of South Australia has two governing bodies: the House of Assembly and the Legislative Council. (Quebec used to have two houses but abolished the upper house sometime ago.)

On walking further north, I came upon their Festival Centre where Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber's "CATS" was playing. (Irene and I saw that play in London 30 years ago. Not to brag but I will, I play "Memories" a song from the same play on my piano.)

Just north of the Festival Centre is a small (very small) lake, it is only a widening of a small stream called Torrens River. There are parks on either sides of the lake and river where the locals come down to sit on the grass and have their picnics. While I was sitting, a young lady shared the bench so I began talking with her. She was there with her two children (ages 12 and 11) who were presently sailing in a peddle boat. I found out that this lady had come to Adelaide with her husband and two children six years ago and since then they had split up. Apparently, her husband has since married a Chinese woman. The young lady said that it is difficult to make friends in Adelaide as most people who were brought up there have already got their circle of friends and are quite contented to leave it at that. Although this lady works in a bank and meets many people but has made no friends. I said to her, “Have you thought of going back to England or moving to somewhere else?" She said, "She had thought about it but didn't have the courage".  I said to her, "Do you think that in a year's time that things will change?" She said, "No".  Then I said, "What are you waiting for?”  (For a person like myself, moving is no big deal as I in my lifetime have lived in 20 different towns and cities.)

On my last day in Adelaide I made arrangement for a wine tour. Unfortunately I stood at the wrong corner to catch the wine tour bus and therefore, I missed it. OK all was not lost; I took a taxi out the nearest vineyard in the area and conducted my own wine tour at the Magill Estates. Never have I seen so many barrels of wine nor bottles either and expensive too! One cannot understand why wine costs so much here in Australia when they make so much of it. Wine was so cheap in France and to tell you the truth, the cost of local wine in Canada is much cheaper for good wine too!

So much for Adelaide as the Ghan waits for me next. (The Ghan is the railway to Alice Springs located at the centre of the outback.)

Dave's first impressions of Sydney, Australia

After a full 14-plus hour on the plane, including one hour on the tarmac in Vancouver fixing the brakes of the aircraft, I and my fellow passengers landed in Sydney all tuckered out. I was tired out even though I had slept on the plane. Somehow that sleep is not satisfactory.

Going through customs and immigration was no chore.  On exiting the airport, I bought a Opal Pass (putting on $50) which allows you to board either the bus or the subway and even the ferry until the $50 is used up. At that point you have to recharge it (top-it-up). I found the subways the best way to get around, even with my suitcase and travel bag. These Opal cards are great as can used everywhere in Australia.

At this point I am going to complement my brother Jock who gave me two good pieces of advice for my travels. First when I was going to France he said..."why not enrol in a French course so that you won't be alone all day in the two months you are away". That was good advice as I enjoyed my time with the young folks at the college. The second piece of advise was to leave one bag (containing my tuxedo which will only be used on the cruise on my way back) with the concierge in Sydney as I will be returning to Sydney to board a cruise ship after completing my tour to Western and Northern Australia. Hopefully the second piece of advice works out and the travel bag is there for me on my return. We'll have to wait and see.

My first impressions of Sydney are good. The people seem to be friendly but talk differently from us (what else is new). Like back home, there are still some homeless people sleeping on the streets. Many of the store clerks and cafe help are Orientals. Also, among the tourists, again many are Orientals. It reminds me of VanKong or HongCouver as we on Vancouver Island call BC's largest city. I have only seen a few Muslim women so far, so there may not be too many of them.  The people here all seem to be very fit as I have only seen one obese woman and I think she was a tourist. The reason (I would guess) is that the Australians are very active in sports and the cost of food here is expensive. (I blew $400 on eating in two days.)

On the last night in Sydney, I made reservations to the dining room on top of the building called Australia Square, except the building is round. The dining room was on the 45th floor and rotates so that one could see the extent of the city. The dinner was costly but what the hell...how many times will I be holidaying in Sydney?

The weather on arrival Sunday morning was great but later on in the afternoon it rained. Again on Monday, when I toured the water front and opera house, it rained cats and dogs forcing me to buy an umbrella. As an aside, the cheapest place to buy an umbrella is in Burlington Ontario ($3.50), Sydney ($7.50) and Monaco (30 euros).

Yes, I toured the water front and what a well designed area it is! The Opera House is a gem. What a design! It took 16 years to build. The guided tour was well worth it, I even bought the souvenir with my photo taken in the Opera House. This was a tourist come on but I bought it anyhow. The Opera House Complex is actually two venues: a concert hall (holding 2000 seats) and the opera house (holding 1500 seats).

What I can't understand was, people actually paid money to climb up over the top span of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in driving rain. Even on a good day, I would not spend the energy or money to climb the span of that bridge (it's too high), but maybe some people have more energy and money than I. You would think they would have a jitney to shuttle folks up the span. They would make more money if they did and even guys like me would take the trip.

I can't say enough about the way Sydney has created (I would say) the best harbour front of any that I have seen. Vancouver has a nice harbour front and it is blessed with having the North Shore Mountains in the background. Sydney has gone all out to make their water front people friendly with many walkways and places to sit and watch as well as many outdoor cafes and shops. Besides the water front, Sydney's commercial and shopping area is also people friendly with pedestrian only streets as well as many mini-parks in these areas. They have kept the façades of the buildings built in the 1800s and built multi-storied buildings behind these 1800s building façades. This gives the city a certain homey character (not glitzy).

The Taronga Zoo was visited on my third day in Sydney. One gets to the zoo by a people only ferry from the docks near the Opera House. It's a 20 minute ride across towards the north-east. On embarking the ferry, one takes a gondola car to the top of the hill as the zoo is built on a gently sloping side hill. Those who feel squeamish about gondolas can take a bus to the top of the hill. On leaving the gondola, the walk around the zoo is mostly down hill. The zoo covers about 500 metres in each direction. One side of the zoo is dedicated to Australian birds and animals while the other section covers animals from other pasts of the world.

I covered a lot of ground walking to see as much of the zoo that I could but I finally had to stop as I was both hungry and thirsty; so I ordered a plate of fish and chips and a beer. (Good fish and chips and good beer at a reasonable cost of $20 Australian dollars!) When one buys something in Australia, the price includes the tax and everything is rounded out to even dollars... no odds cents extra. (This kiosk at the zoo was the first place that I found where the food and drink were reasonably priced.)

Finally, on day four, I must check out of my hotel and take the subway to Central Station to board the Indian Pacific to Adelaide.

TFW Fall 2016 Runway Recap: 15 Must-See Illustrations

The following links are from the Flare Magazine :
Check out images 4, 5 and 6 to see Stephanie's illustrations.

The Crisis Band

Dave wrote:

Hi Doug,
Bill Wood was a friend of Ken's and I connected with him at one of the
events we had for Ken.  Beverly Huffman Lake is a friend of his and she
found this picture of you and some of your friends at her 13th birthday
where Bill's band The Crisis played.  Bill identified you in the picture and
Ray Adams on the far right.  Bill says hi.
Take care,
Dave 

Doug wrote me:

Hi Dad,
Dave sent me this picture, circa 1970 of my brief time in our school rock band. Some people find this hard to believe I actually did perform for a audience (beyond my family enduring my pathetic piano recitals).
Doug  

Doug circa 1968

Before enhancement (Photoshop)

Bill and Wendy's Servant!

His name is "Robert' the Robot.

Spring Break

Denise's metal statue

Happy Birthday Pat and Lei

Stephanie has been commission by many firms

stephanie anne illustration

Stephanie Anne McKay is a Toronto based Fashion Illustrator.  Her work is an abstract use of watercolor and digital media creating a minimal and raw approach to figure study. Stephanie's pieces embody allure and sophistication.

Stephanie received her artistic education from Academy of Realist Art, MTM Animation School and Ryerson University.  

 She is also known for her live sketching abilities for runway shows and events. With her instinctive approach she is able to execute striking illustrations on site in five minutes or less.

You'll find her on instagram ( @stephanieanne0 ), tumbr.com and instgy.com.

She has been commission by the following clients:

Beauty Desk
Holt Renfrew
Kate and Harriet
Links of London
Mendocino
Microsoft
Party Skirts
Rethink Breast Cancer
Sony
St Michael's Hospital Foundation
Stephanie Sterjovski
Target
The Collections
Toronto Fashion Week

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Click on images to enlarge.

Happy Birthday Graham!

Denise's latest beadwork jewellery

Click on the photos to enlarge them.

Judy and Jock Birthdays

Bardy and Judy

Blow Brady, blow!

You guys are zombies

 Jock was born on Feb 27, 1931 and Judy on March 1

30 years later.